Aug. 08--When he was a child, Noah Garcia's grandmother purchased Catholic Life Insurance for him and her other grandchildren.

Now that seemingly routine gesture has turned into much more.

Garcia, a Portland resident and a 2017 Incarnate Word Academy graduate, recently was named one of 35 All-American Scholar award winners by Catholic Life Insurance. The honor includes a $1,000 scholarship.

The award is earmarked for seniors "who have not only demonstrated outstanding leadership skills and academic achievements, but have also gone above and beyond in their civic duties and made a difference in their communities," according to Catholic Life's website.

"It was very exciting," Garcia said. "My grandmother has had all of us apply for the scholarship, but I was the first one to get it. I was very excited not only to receive it, but to be able to share the news with her."

In addition to his schoolwork at IWA, Garcia kept a strenuous schedule playing varsity baseball and basketball and and running for the Angels' cross-country team.

Basketball provided one of Garcia's best memories during his senior year as IWA advanced to the second round of the playoffs and won a home playoff game for the first time in a decade.

He also was involved in Mu Alpha Theta, science club, Triumph over Kid Cancer Club and the Missions Program, where he has traveled to help the less fortunate over three years.

He has been an altar server since he was in third grade at St. Patrick Catholic Church and recently received a 10-year cord for his services.

"People don't believe me, but I have never missed a Sunday Mass or a holy day of obligation Mass," Garcia said. "From them driving me as a child to now me taking it upon myself to drive, faith is a huge part of who I am. It is what makes us who we are."

DeNeise Thomson, the youth minister at St. Patrick, said that Garcia has showcased a strong leadership ability in the altar server program.

"He is a team leader for all of the young servers that he encounters," Thomson said. "He steps up even before he is asked to. He takes initiative and guides the other servers to get whatever needs to be done, done."

Monsignor Roger Smith, who is the pastor at St. Patrick, has known Garcia since he began school, and remembers when he chose to start as an altar server when he was in third grade.

"I've always found him a very responsible young man and very respectful and very faithful in carrying out his duties as an altar server," Smith said.

Garcia plans to attend the University of Texas-San Antonio in the fall where he will major in accounting and minor in finance, with a goal of becoming an accountant. UTSA has a program where he can use his dual-credit hours from high school and earn his CPA in five years instead of six.

Garcia said San Antonio is far enough away for him to be independent, but also close enough to easily return home. He hopes to be the first person on his father's side of the family to graduate from a school outside of Corpus Christi or Kingsville.

Garcia is working for the Corpus Christi Hooks during his final few weeks in South Texas before his mid-August move-in date.

"I really love it there. I get to be in the clubhouse and in the dugout as a batboy," Garcia said. "It is an awkward schedule, but other than that it is really cool."